Archive for the ‘literature and Fiction’ Category

Honestly, I didn’t know there is such a thing as this. a special day celebrated for book lovers. All these years I was not aware of it until a friend on Facebook forwarded this lovely photo from Chicken Soup for the Soul. It was celebrated yesterday. Today, in our country, it’s already August 10.

How nice to celebrate a special day for books and readers alike. I love this photo. it shows the beauty of having books around with maybe a hot cup of coffee or tea on a rainy day.

Cicero surely was thinking of me 🙂 when he said these words. Garden and books, two things I both love. How I wish I really have a small room for a library but all I have are several shelves for our accumulated books over the years. My daughter is a book nerd, she used to buy series of publications when she was here. I remember a complete set of the Harry Potter series, all hardbound copies which she reserved at National Book Store when they were out in the market. I remember watching the movie adaptations with my kids. Remember Hunger Games, a trilogy of young adult dystopian novels written by the novelist Suzanne Collins? She also has hard-bound copies of Stephanie Meyer’s books Twilight. I haven’t read them, I am not fond of vampire stories and werewolves.

By the way, I am done with 145 books for my Goodreads’ 2017 Reading Challenge. Five more books to go, yahoo 🙂 I lately finished another memoir by Frances Mayes, author of the lovely book Under the Tuscan Sun . Under Magnolia is all about her coming of age, her growing up years in Fitzgerald, Georgia. I love the photos inside the book. It made me think of how she looked like when she was younger.

It’s a cloudy day for a Monday morning and it’s still dark outside. I hope I’ll be able to finish trimming our carabao grass this afternoon if it doesn’t rain.

I’ve browsed lately and read Lucy Torres’ articles in the national daily Philippine Star. She is a congresswoman from Ormoc City in the south and a celebrity in her own right. She has a byline almost every Sunday and I read it online. I have read her writings for a number of years now and I like how she shares her life with her actor husband Richard Gomez and their only child Juliana. Time and again I’ll blog about her. I’ve found her old posts and she recommended a certain author by the name of Ruth Reichl. Ruth is an author on various books on food. Lucy recommended three of Ruth’s best-selling memoirs on food entitled Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples and Garlic and Sapphires. I read the summaries at Goodreads and all the three books have four stars each. I wish I could find copies on my next foray at Booksale. I love memoirs. I am presently reading another memoir of Francis Mayes called UnderMagnolia. If you remember she is also the author of that lovely book Under TheTuscan Sun which was adapted into a film that I watched twice on tv. I have several books on my “currently reading list”. When I start one and couldn’t get into the story all that much, I look for another…haha!

Don’t you just love being curled under white sheets with a hot cup of coffee or tea while reading? Don’t you just love finding titles and discovering new authors? Ah, the beauty of being a senior citizen, some wonderful days just spent reading and enjoying every minute.

Just borrowed the title of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s book. An almost five hundred pages of engaging read. One of the best books I’ve read so far in this year’s challenge. It’s actually my first book of Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

I’ve heard of this Spanish novelist in one of our book club’s discussions but didn’t try to find a copy since I had so many TBR books at hand. Finally, I found time to make it as one of the priorities in my reading. It’ my 105th book read this year. Forty five more books to go until December and I’ll be able to complete Goodreads’ 2017 Reading Challenge.

I didn’t know what to expect of this book but it was all about antiquated books and libraries which are subjects dear to my heart. Like my other book reviews, I won’t even attempt to summarize the story here, it’s for other readers to find out. Suffice to say, I enjoyed every page although it took me almost three days of on and off reading to finish it. It’s worth every minute. There are three books actually in this series and this is the first one. I wonder if I could find the other two.

As usual, I set aside gardening and blogging for two days while I tried to finish the book. Often, in most lovely books, a book review would not be complete without Good quotes.

“So long as we are being remembered, we remain alive.”

“Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen.”

“People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren’t already complicated enough.”

“Once, in my father’s bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.”

I just started with a book called The Memory Child by Steena Holmes, another first on my list. What are you reading?

PAGASA has finally declared officially yesterday that we are now into summer. They say that we really don’t have summer because we only have two seasons of the year, the dry and the wet. People got used though to calling the dry days and months summer here. It would lasts until probably the last week of May when thunderstorms in the afternoon are regular occurrence. It is not yet that hot within the day but there are almost no clouds in the sky. For those of us who love the beach, it’s time for that much-needed dip. Just don’t forget to have sunblock in your bag. Days would be longer than nights.

Finally too, I am almost done with my gardening job – trimming the grass, weeding and replanting some of my ornamental plants. I haven’t touched anything outside our perimeter wall yet but I guess, the weeds outside our fence need to be uprooted too. They are growing tall and unmanageable. Our Santan plants need trimming too. That would have to be postponed for a while because they are presently in bloom. I love those red flowers, they are lovely under the sun.

I haven’t blogged for two days but I noticed the decline in my views yesterday. It’s down to a little over a hundred compared to the previous five days before that where it reached more than two hundred a day. I remember that those times when I blogged every day were the same days that my stats went up. Really, we are only good as our last post although I noticed that there are some posts that always stay at the top. I have some favorites but they are no longer viewed now. I guess participating in writing one post a day really helps. Back in 2011, I did that but it was never repeated. It was kind of taxing thinking of what to write about every day for the entire year. Maybe in the future I’ll do it again.

I’ve put aside reading for the last three days but I am trying to catch up again with Lang Leav’s poems and Mary Oliver’s thoughts mixed with my fiction books. It is always nice to get to know other people’s thoughts and dreams. I am inspired by their writings. Sometimes I wonder where they get all the inspirations to write those lovely texts. I am envious. I’ve been an admirer of Mary Oliver for so long but I only have two of her books. A friend bought me a copy of Upstream, (my 3rd one) her latest but we haven’t seen each other yet. I read the reviews of the book, read some excerpts from it and I am really looking forward to have that book on hand. I follow her on Facebook that is why I am updated. I like almost all of her poems but this one is a favorite. Would love to share it you. It’s called Wild Geese.

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”

It is summer now, let me correct that, it’s the beginning of the dry season here. Would just love to enjoy the sun and reading.

I went back to my internist after a month of taking medications for high BP and elevated sugar. Although my sugar level has gone back to normal, he prescribed same medicines for at least two months more. I have to go back there in a week or two because he is monitoring my blood pressure which always has a tendency to go up. I am not stressed but I wonder why my BP is always on the rise. I relax by reading, gardening and yes updating this blog and reading other blog posts. I discovered new ones which I recently followed. They have nice and lovely photography blogs.

For the past week, I’ve been reading e-books. I recently discovered this author Elizabeth Cox. She has written several books but this is my first time to read one of them. A Question of Mercy really made me cry. It’s a story of a mentally disabled young man and his teenage step-sister. His family love him but he was misunderstood by many of their neighbors until the former decided that he undergo sterilization and lobotomy in a state-supported asylum. The day before he was due for the operation, he was found dead in a river near their place. The cover made me decide to try this one. The lush landscape of North Carolina was vividly described in the story. You can’t put a price in the love of family. It should always come first, shouldn’t it?

It’s nice to be back reading e-books again. It took me a long time to appreciate e-books because there is nothing like holding a real book in your hands. I got used to it eventually. Lately, I’ve been reading books by Australian authors. Done with 56 books, 31 % of my reading challenge.

This is my 3rd blog post for this month. Hopefully I would be able to make one every day. Wishful thinking so to speak.

For the past month and the past few days, my blog post Another Year To Be ThankfulFor has been on my most read blog, I don’t know why. Maybe it got stuck there for a time but it earned the usual number of visits. It was my birthday post more than three years ago. Just a simple thank you to all those who made my birthday a lovely one.

I am about to finish the book A Man Called Ove. It is the story of a retired man who is disgruntled about life in general. He could be your typical grandfather or your neighbor.Deep within with his close friends and loved ones, he is a softie.I found out that it was adapted into a movie but I am not sure if it is as good as the book. I think this is one of my favorite books for this challenge, so far that is. I may encounter more along the way but this book is so good. What an excellent writing a different kind of reading altogether. The author is Fredrik Backman from Stockholm, Sweden. The book is one of Sweden’s most popular literary exports. Find out for yourself, if you haven’t read it yet.

Yesterday, we celebrated Ash Wednesday. Went to mass early for the imposition of the ashes. It was a day of fasting and abstinence for those reaching 14 to 59 and a day of abstinence beyond that. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent in the Catholic church’s liturgical calendar. My co-admins and I are busy at the Catholic page which we maintain at Facebook. These are those times that we could share lots of reflections, news and anything about Catholicism.

Thank you WordPress for the nice numbers. Thank you blogger friends for always commenting and liking my posts. Love you all.

I know, I know. I am trying to get into the mood of writing a blog post again. It’s really been a while. I am excited to get back but when you haven’t written something for quite a long time, its hard to get back all over again. And I really mean one week without a post is like a month for me.

I was again engrossed reading instead. Quiet days, quiet nights without the internet. Opps, one can do it but I miss writing my thoughts here. Have I told you that I have advanced reading 17 books? Yes, I have finished reading 35 books in all as of today, a little over 23% of my committed 150 book reads, It is nice to read a series again for a change. I could not find the latest books though. I tried looking for them online but I could not find them. Susan Rodgers is one of my favorites now. I am planning to reread the saga of Diana Gabaldon. I have several books of hers, some I haven’t started yet. Maybe one of these days I will.

Went back for more laboratory tests. I have to consult my doctor in a week. My blood sugar level has significantly gone down but I still have high blood pressure. Hopefully, this would correct after I have taken several medications. It’s quite hard when you are not 100% fit to do the daily chores you have to meet at home.

I miss blogging, who doesn’t? It’s wonderful to know that slowly my number of followers is building up and my stats is on a steady climb. I must admit that when you don’t blog regularly, you also lose some friends who follow your blog. Sorry folks, same old sour grapes all over again. You are all important to me.

This coming Saturday, there is another reunion for our old buddies at the bank where I used to work. Most of us have left and retired but some are still working there. I miss them although we get in touch through social media. It’s a bit different when you see each other personally and make “kumustahans”.

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Life starts with a beautiful dream. Life starts in somehow believing that one day you’ll get what you wished and prayed for. Life starts with something you believe you can do and dream about. My entries here are mostly about my journey as a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, a mother, a friend, and about the books I read, places I want to visit and have visited, people I want to meet someday and mostly about the daily grind of simple living. Dreams and Escapes is about having enough faith to go on, the will to live no matter how difficult life may seem sometimes and grateful appreciations of all the things one holds dear. It is about the belief that I could share a little of my journey through writing and writing is an escape for me. When things get a little too hard to bear, I put them into perspective by sharing them here.
Dreams and Escapes, why not?

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Recent Posts: Dreams Never End

Oh my goodness, I was busy keeping my main site updated that I clearly forgot to visit this blog for quite a while. Shame on me. I miss those times we used to go on road trips and discover places. I miss those days just driving around and seeing those beautiful and lovely views of […]

These flowers used to be permanent fixtures in my small garden. I had the lone shrub for years and it produces such lovely white flowers every year. Some months ago, the leaves slowly turned yellow then they dried up to brittle brown ones. This afternoon, my son and I decided to finally put it […]

It was one of those days when having fresh flowers in a vase would really perk you up. I wish I could also grow mums here but I think they need a colder climate than our hot, hot weather. Most flowers like these come from the cold clime of Baguio City up north.

A few years ago, I tried my hand at macro photography, just ordinary photos. I found these colorful Macopa growing in our yard and some Mangoes which my brother picked from our trees. Mangoes are in season now. They are best eaten ripe like this or you can also eat them green with a […]

I have always been fascinated by the different colors of greens in our small garden. I sometimes make it a point to take some shot of them when they are at their best. It’s been a while though since I took photos, my camera is not working well. I rely on my camera phone and […]

One of the best places we visited in our road trips is Regina RICA in Tanay, Rizal. It is a place of prayer and worship and that 71-foot tall image of Mama Mary is one sure attraction of the place. I love going on road trips. One learns a lot of things when one visits […]

It’s been a while since I last posted something here. Been updating my main blog though Dreams and Escapes regularly now. You can see it at the right corner of this blog. I’ve been busy for a while and just forgot to update this site. Hopefully, by the time I am done with my free […]

Gosh, I’ve practically neglected this site. HAPPY 2017 to all. Last Sunday, a few friends and I went to visit a member of our Catholic page at Facebook who is presently undergoing treatment for lupus. She was an OFW in Hongkong until more than a year ago. Since she is staying with his brother for […]